IPL 2017 – Gautam Gambhir Blames Batsmen For Stinging Loss

With just one day left for the league stage of this season of the IPL to end, there is still one spot up for the grabs for the playoffs. Thanks to an utterly dismal batting performance from the Kolkata Knight Riders, there are several permutations still possible for the top 4 positions, which can ultimately have a massive bearing on the outcome.

Needing a decent 174 to confirm a slot for the first qualifier, the experiment of using Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine failed miserably yet again as the Trinidadian was dismissed in the very first over. With Knight Riders constantly losing wickets, the chase was getting steeper with every passing delivery.

Two absolutely spot on overs from Hardik Pandya meant that the hosts couldn’t get close to the target and fell short in the last over. Post the loss, skipper Gautam Gambhir was fuming against the substandard batting display.

“It was a very chaseable total,” said Gambhir. “If we had batted sensibly we would have chased it down, but there were some irresponsible shots. Had someone batted till the end, we could have chased it down. I thought we were trying to chase it down in 10-12 overs. But the way bowlers bowled, it was a good effort to restrict them to 173.”

“On this kind of wicket where the ball was getting wet, it was unbelievable. We were one batter shot so we had to take the responsibility. We have to pull up our socks. If we bat like this, it does not matter whether we are in the play-offs or not. If we have to win the tournament we will have to bat sensibly. We cannot do anything now, we will have to see how other teams go from here,” the southpaw added.

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